“What the fuck are you doing?” Phisola asked, looking rather disappointed as she stared at Eric from the hot bath with only her head showing.

“I’m checking the temperature,” he responded as he prodded the hot water carefully with his finger.

“The temperature? I knew you were a coward, but this is shocking. I never thought I’d see someone who is scared of damn water.”

“It’s steaming hot, so I don’t want to burn myself,” Seeing that his finger didn’t get burned, he put his hand in.

“But I’m already inside, you idiot! I’d get burned first!”

“You’re a devil. You’re probably much more durable than me.”

Her expression changed: “… ok, that’s a sound argument.”

“And since I’m just a regular mortal, I probably have far lower heat resistance. So I don’t want to get burned.”

“Ok, I get it. Hmm … you may be a coward, but that may actually be a good thing. First of all, you won’t do something stupid, but you can also give me a weakling’s perspective on things, which can help. I have to admit I never really thought water could be dangerous.”

“What about drowning?”

“I’m not going to drown in water that’s up to my waist!”

“Ok, I’m not going to take it further. But water is a force to be reckoned with.”

Satisfied with the temperature, Eric started taking his clothes off.

“Ohh, a strip show!” Phisola teased.

“But let me guess … you’re going to tell me I’m not hot enough to perform it.”

“Hmm,” she frowned, “I don’t want to hear that …”

“Neither do I.”

“Telling your superiors they’re predictable is not a smart thing to do. And neither is being cocky with them.”

“So, should I just let you be predictable?”

Once out of his clothes, he started getting into the bath. But as soon as his feet were in, Phisola kicked his legs, making him fall into the water face-first.

Rising above the water level, he opened his mouth to protest. But Phisola was faster.

“That wasn’t predictable, now wasn’t it?” She said in a commanding tone.

“You really are an egomaniac, aren’t you?”

“Be careful what you wish for, fool! Predictability helps you avoid trouble.”

“Listen here … my lady. My survival depends on you. Do you agree with that?”

“You got it wrong. It’s not your survival that depends on me. Your whole life is in my hands.”

“Even better! So, if you’re to fuck up, I’ll also get killed.”

“Assuming your superior is incompetent is a terrible way of apologizing for your transgressions,” one of her feet rose out of the water and started rubbing his face, “That gets you more of this.”

He used his hand to keep the foot at bay: “Do you think you’re perfect?”

“I’m damn close to it! I wouldn’t be so full of myself otherwise.”

“So you’re not completely perfect. You may be damn close to it, and I do agree, by the way. But you’re not perfect.”

Her other foot showed up, attacking his face from the other side. Now she had to rest her arms on the edge of the bath to keep herself afloat: “And who are you to judge me about that, huh? Look at you, you’re pathetic! You’re as imperfect as you can be!”

“You’re missing the point,” he tried grabbing both her feet with his hands, but those proved to be far more agile than he expected, “I’m not trying to demean you! You’re as close to perfection as it can get!”

“Well, thank you!” One of her toes booped his nose, lightly enough not to hurt but hard enough to let him know it could’ve hurt like hell.

“Listen! The point is: me pointing out some of your flaws is not a bad thing as long as it helps you get rid of them!”

“What? You think you can make me even more perfect?”

“There’s certainly room for improvement. Ufff!”

This time, she kicked him in the stomach hard enough to make him lose breath: “You’re pushing it, boy! Don’t confuse my playfulness for weakness!”

“I’m … ufff … I’m not.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I might let it go a few times, but don’t think I’ll let you disrespect me like that! I see what you’re trying to do! You’re a damn coward!” She started rubbing his face with her feet again, “You’re too cowardly to take me on directly, so you’re trying to get on my good side in hopes that I’ll be stupid enough to let you manipulate me!”

“I’m just pointing out …”

“You don’t get to point out anything! Once, ok, I’ll let it slide. Two times, fine, I’ll amuse you. But if you think I’ll let you act like bitch all the time, nagging me and talking back to me, then you’re a fucking idiot! We’ve already agreed that your life is in my hands. You’re at my mercy. So you better start acting like it!”

“Ok, chill out. Geez, I was just kidding.”

“Your kidding is turning into a nasty habit I don’t like!”

“Ok, ok! I’m sorry,” he raised his hands up in surrender, “That little jab was just a stupid joke.”

“Do you really think I’ll believe that?”

“You don’t have to believe me, but I was just jabbing back at you. I thought we were having a playful spat. I didn’t think you’d get so mad about it.”

“Considering that your survival depends on me, I think I deserve some respect. Hell, I deserve reverence! You should be worshiping me, you idiot! I’m literally like a god to you! I get to decide whether you live or die!”

“That’s all good, but respect has to go both ways.”

“Both ways?” Her eyes opened wide in fury, “Both ways! Are you fucking stupid?”

“If you stop with your jabs, I’ll stop with mine.”

“Those who are superior aren’t supposed to respect the inferior! That’s not how the world works! How can you be so stupid as to say that respect has to go both ways!”

“But we’re partners. It’s not like we’re in some business relationship.”

“That’s where you’re fucking wrong!”

Seeing that her eyes had started flaring up with rage, Eric quickly decided to calm things down: “Ok, ok. I’m not trying to rile you up or be disrespectful. Calm down a little bit.”

“How can you say we’re partners when you’re doing absolutely nothing! How are you contributing? What are you useful for, besides that sorry dick you have between your legs!”

“Ok … you got that right.”

“Damn right I got that right!”

“I admit I’m useless right now, but I’m willing to help, learn, and contribute. That’s why I came with you to gather blood, right?”

“Then what the fuck makes you think you can talk to me like that? Acting all sassy and cool, as if we’re on the same level!”

“All right, sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. I just got the impression you like our little, playful spats.”

“Look at you!” She pointed her hand at him, “You’re pathetic! Look how obedient you are! So what right do you have to give me sass and act all cheeky? It should be nothing but: yes mistress, right away mistress. You didn’t challenge me even once, yet you think you have some right to talk back to me!”

“I didn’t challenge you because I’m not stupid. I’m not going to underestimate someone who survived these caves as long as you did.”

The angry lines on her face disappeared, but her brows still frowned: “You had teachers back home, right?”

“Of course I did. Why?”

“Were you so sassy with them too?”

“No. I was too busy trying to make something out of my life to think of anything else. Attitude came once I became someone.”

“You do realize I’m your teacher now … right?”

His eyes looked to the side instinctively as he considered those words: “I … I guess you’re right.”

“There’s nothing to guess, retard! You’re fucking useless! Your skills mean nothing here! You don’t even know how to get food for yourself!”

“That I … ok, I get it.”

“Or is it because I’m a female? Do your people look down on females because that’s how you think it should be? Even when said female is far more competent than you are?”

“No! No, we don’t! I know many women who are extremely competent, and I’d never look down on them!”

“That sounds way too defensive to me. Then why do you have issues with my authority? There’s overwhelming evidence that clearly shows you have so much to learn from me, while I can’t learn a single useful thing from you. So why is it so hard for you to follow me? Why do you feel the constant need to contradict me?”

“Because, first of all, you’re being extremely disrespectful towards me. I don’t remember any teachers demeaning me at every turn while you’ll never miss an opportunity to do so.”

“Useless people don’t have a right to an ego! They must constantly be reminded of how useless they are so they won’t get any funny ideas you have!”

“And the second thing is that you’ve never presented yourself as a teacher. Sure, you never missed a chance to show how awesome you are, but never once did you tell me you’re going to help me become as awesome as that.”

“Do I really need to spell it out for you to understand?”

“Understand what?”

“Oh my f ...” instead of rolling her eyes, she rolled her entire head this time, “To understand that I’m going to teach you a few things! How else are you going to survive? Isn’t it obvious that I can’t leave you as you are and have to twist you into shape?”

“Well, you’ve always treated me as a servant.”

“We only know each other for a single day!”

“You’ve always treated me as inferior, and that’s not how teachers back home treat their students, so I never got the impression you’re willing to teach me anything. And I admit that I’m inferior to you, there’s no doubt about it. After all, I chose to rely on you for my very survival. It doesn’t get any more inferior than that. But I never had a teacher treat me like you do, so I thought you’re just being mean for the sake of being mean.”

“Isn’t it natural that a student should obey? Are students and teachers equals where you come from? Isn’t one of them supposed to be, oh, I don’t know … an authority figure?”

“Yes, but as I’ve said, I never got the impression that you’d be willing to teach me.”

“So, in other words, you thought you would be a freeloader.”

“No! I told you that I have no issues helping however I can, as meager as my help can be! Hell, I even gave you my blood!”

“Hmm …” she considered those words for a moment, “you got that right. But then again, considering how useless you are, the only way you can pay me back is in your bodily fluids.”

“And that too! Teachers don’t have sex with their students!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course they don’t!”

Her facial expression changed into a surprised one.

“Wait … are you serious?”

“Damn right … wait …” Now his face became surprised too, “Is that, maybe … a common thing among the demons?”

“Well … yeah! Why wouldn’t it be?”

“But, wouldn’t that be a conflict of interest?”

“How so? Wouldn’t that endear a student to the teacher and motivate them to teach as effectively as possible?”

“No, but wouldn’t that make it easy for the teacher to exploit the students? Wouldn’t that make it possible for the teacher to blackmail the students with the grades?”

“Grades? What’s the point of grades when teaching?”

“Oh … Ohh! I get it!”

“Have you finally realized how stupid you are?”

“No, we just have completely different approaches when it comes to education. Let me guess, a teacher only teaches one student at a time in your country?”

“It could be two or three if they’re from the same family. But teaching more students than three at once is impossible.”

“Ah, ok, I get it, I get it. Let’s chuck this one to just yet another interracial misunderstanding. Although … ah, nah. I better keep that one to myself.”

“Keep what?”

“I wanted to say something, but then I realized there’s a good chance your people are doing things differently, and I really won’t like that, so I’d rather live in ignorance for now.”